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FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN OPEN AND

DISTANCE LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF KINONDONI REGIONAL

CENTRE

SAID ABDALLAH LUKWEKWE

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS OF DEGREE OF MASTERS OF DISTANCE

EDUCATION OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

2015
 ii

CERTIFICATION

The undersigned certifies that she has read and hereby recommends for acceptance

by the Open University of Tanzania a dissertation titled: “Factors Affecting

Students’ Performance in Open and Distance Learning: A Case Study of

Kinondoni Regional Centre”, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Distance Education of the Open University of Tanzania.

………………………………………………….

Dr. Elinami Swai

(Supervisor)

………………………………………………….

Date
 iii

COPYRIGHT

No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the author or the Open

University of Tanzania in that behalf.

 iv

DECLARATION

I, Said Abdallah Lukwekwe, do hereby declare that this dissertation is my own

original work and that it has not been presented by any person and it will not be

presented to any other University for a similar or any other degree award.

………………………………………………….

Signature

………………………………………………….

Date
 v

DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my beloved deceased child and parents namely: Harith Said

Lukwekwe, Abdallah Salim Lukwekwe and Halima Twalib Cheleuka respectively.

May the Almighty God rest their souls in the eternal peace, Amin.
 vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank all those who in one way or another supported and enabled me

to undertake and accomplish this work successfully. First and foremost is my

supervisor Dr. Elimani Swai who guided, encouraged and led me through until the

completion of this dissertation. I also have to thank Mr. Hamza Mtunu who read my

work and give constructive comments which helped to shape my work.

I wish to thank my employer, Kinondoni Municipal Council and especially head of

school of Yusuf Makamba Community Secondary school Mr. Mohammed Kassuwi

who allowed undertaking this study, despite the pressing demands in the office. I

would like also to send my appreciation to the Secretary of Ridhwaa Seminary Miss

Sophia Athumani Chambo for typing this work.

In special way I would like to thank my family especially my wife Ms. Khadija

Khamis Mussa for her tireless encouragement: My sons Ad-ham Said Lukwekwe,

Rifai Said Lukwekwe and my daughter Mwaile Said Lukwekwe who missed my

close attention and parental care during my study and preparation of this work.

Above all, I thank the Almighty God for giving me the strength and will, and

keeping me healthy throughout my course.

 vii

ABSTRACT

This study critically examines the factors that affect students‟ performance in open

and distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania- a case study of Kinondoni

regional centre. The objectives of the study were; to establish the relationship

between support service and academic performance of undergraduate students at

OUT, to establish the relationship between social presence and academic

performance of undergraduate students at OUT and to establish the relationship

between gender and academic performance of undergraduate students at OUT. The

study used questionnaires and interview guide to get the information from 80

students and 30 academic staff. Open University of Tanzania. The key findings were

that most students had a lot of responsibilities and spent less time in studying,

coupled with inadequate guidance in the distance mode of education. The study

recommended that; educational institutions must communicate to course developers

and program leaders what are acceptable rates of return on distance learning

programs. While great instructors are often not focused on the bottom line of whether

a course pays for itself, the reality is that courses should be self-sufficient and reap a

return for the institution's investment unless there is a compelling reason to do

otherwise.
 viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................... ii

COPYRIGHT ............................................................................................................ iii

DECLARATION ....................................................................................................... iv

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................ v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi

ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. vii

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xi

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. xii

LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................ xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................ xiv

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.......................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................... 5

1.3 General Objective................................................................................................ 6

1.4 Specific Objectives.............................................................................................. 6

1.5 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 6

1.6 The Scope of the Study ....................................................................................... 7

1.7 Significance of the Study .................................................................................... 7

1.8 Limitation of the Study ....................................................................................... 8

1.9 Chapter Summary................................................................................................ 9

CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................... 10

LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................ 10

2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 10

 ix

2.2 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 10

2.2.1 Open Learning .................................................................................................. 10

2.2.2 Open and Distance Learning (ODL)................................................................. 10

2.3 Theoretical Literature Review........................................................................... 11

2.4 Self-esteem and Loneliness in Distance Learning ............................................ 12

2.5 Loneliness ......................................................................................................... 13

2.6 Social Presence and Academic Performance .................................................... 14

2.7 Support Service and Academic Performance at ODL....................................... 15

2.8 Social Economic Status and Academic Performance ....................................... 17

2.9 Gender and Academic performance .................................................................. 19

2.10 The Conceptual Framework ............................................................................. 21

2.11 Conclusion and the Gap .................................................................................... 24

2.12 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................. 24

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................. 25

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 25

3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 25

3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................ 25

3.3 Study Area ......................................................................................................... 25

3.4 Population ......................................................................................................... 26

3.5 Sample Size ....................................................................................................... 26

3.6 Sampling Techniques ........................................................................................ 26

3.7 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents .................................................. 27

3.8 Data Collection Methods................................................................................... 27

3.9 Data Collection Tools ....................................................................................... 28

 x

3.9.1 Questionnaires .................................................................................................. 28

3.9.2 Interviews ......................................................................................................... 28

3.10 Data Analysis and Presentation ........................................................................ 28

3.11 Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................... 29

3.12 Validity and Reliability of the Data Collection Tool........................................ 29

3.13 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................. 30

CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................... 31

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION............................... 31

4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 31

4.2 Effectiveness of Students‟ Support Service on Students‟ Academic

Performance ...................................................................................................... 34

4.3 The Findings ..................................................................................................... 35

4.4 Social Presence and Academic Performance .................................................... 36

4.5 Gender and Academic Performance ................................................................. 38

4.6 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................. 39

CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................................................................... 41

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 41

5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 41

5.2 Summary ........................................................................................................... 41

5.2 Overcoming Major Barriers to Offering Quality Distance Learning Courses . 43

5.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................. 45

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 46

APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 55
 xi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Marital Status (Staffs& Students) ............................................................ 27

Table 3.2: Gender (Staffs & Students) ....................................................................... 27

Table 4.1: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents both Academic Staff and

Students (110) ............................................................................................ 31

Table 4.2: Marital Status (Students & Academic Staffs) ........................................... 32

Table 4.3: Age Range ................................................................................................. 33

Table 4.4: Responses on Effectiveness of Students Support Services at the Open

University of Tanzania .............................................................................. 34

Table 4.5: Support Services that Raise Students‟ Performance ................................. 35

 xii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Conceptual Frameworks .......................................................................... 23

Figure 4.1: Graphical Representation on the Demographics ..................................... 32

Figure 4.2: Graphical Representation of Marital Status

(Students & Academic Staffs) ................................................................. 33

Figure 4.3: Graphical Representation of Respondents

(Academic Staffs & Students) Age Range .............................................. 34

 xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for Selected Open University of Tanzania Academic

Staff .................................................................................................... 55

Appendix 2: Questionnaires to Open University Students ...................................... 60

Appendix 3: Sample Estimation Table .................................................................... 65

 xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

GPA Grade Percentage Average

ICT Information and Communication Technology

ODL Open and Distance Learning

OUT The Open University of Tanzania

PISA Programme for International Students Assessment

SADC Southern Africa Development Cooperation

SPET SADC Protocol of Education and Training

TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study

UK The United Kingdom

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

 1

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.1 Introduction

Open and distance education in Tanzania and in other sub-Saharan Africa countries

is considered important avenue for provision of education and to remove barriers for

many and increase access to education to as many people as possible. (Malaysian

Qualification Agency, 2011). For example, many people including those living at

remote areas, those who could not be allowed to leave their home or workplace to

study or those whom otherwise could not have such access depend on open and

distance education. The importance of open and distance education as an opening for

more people to access education is also evident in the SADC Protocol of Education

and Training (SPET) report. In the report, interests in raising demand for higher

education through open and distance education to accommodate all those who need

education are highlighted. According to Angara et al., (2010), open learning can

remove all unnecessary barriers to learning, while aiming to provide students with a

reasonable chance of success in an education and training system centered on their

specific needs and located in multiple arenas of learning.

Distance education (sometimes referred to as “distributed learning” or “distance

learning”), meanwhile, is any educational process in which all or most of the

teaching is conducted by someone geographically removed from the learner, with all

or most of the communication between teachers and learners being conducted

through electronic or print mediums (UNESCO, 2006). In assessing the factors that

affect students‟ performance in any educational system, two aspects are normally
 2

considered. These are individual factors and institutional factors. Individual factors

are those related to the learner such as interest, attitude, ability, social economic

status, gender and the like. Those from the institution include availability of the

materials, behaviour and competence of the instructor.

In Europe for example, Smith and Naylor (1993) examined determinants of degree

performance of students leaving UK universities and found that degree performance

is influenced significantly by personal characteristics. They also found that

performance of female students is better than the performance of male students in

some subjects such as Biological Science and Humanities and worse in Mathematics

and Computing. Smith and Naylor observed that both men and women, married

individuals do better than non-married students.

Cheesman et al., (2006) found that the performance of mature students is better than

the performance of younger students. Erdem et al., (2007) concluded that the

probability of getting a higher cumulative GPA was higher than the students who

graduate from the standard high schools in Turkey. Naher et al., (2008) found that

there is a direct link between attendance and marks awarded in Ireland.

In North America, Keil and Partell (1997) found that there is a strong negative

relationship between class size and the likelihood of receiving high course. As class

size increases, the probability of receiving an A is lowered. Durr (1999) found that

the ability of students to perform well in principles of macroeconomics courses can

be predicted to some degree by applying the student‟s scores on the first quiz, the

percentage change from the first quiz to the fourth quiz, and where the student sits in
 3

the classroom. Durr (1999) observed that the study skills of seniors are likely to be

better honed through practice than freshmen have attained. Moreover, in Australia,

Applegate and Daly (2006) examined the impact of paid employment on the GPA

and found that there is no large negative effect of paid employment on average

grades. They observed that doing some paid employment actually improves grades

and students are able to manage their time to ensure there is no large negative effect

of paid employment on grades. However, they found there is a positive correlation

with the percentage of classes missed and a perception of a more negative effect of

employment on grades.

In Asia, Kiamanesh (2004) provided evidence that Mathematics self-concept, home

background, and teaching play significant role in determining the variance in

mathematics achievement. Likewise Suryadarmaet al. (2004) found that student

performance is strongly influenced by the education level of parents in Indonesia.

Hijaz and Naqvi (2006) found there is a positive relationship between the level of

mother education and students performance in Pakistan.

Hedjazi and Omidi (2008) found that female students‟ academic success was more

pronounced than males in Iran. Ali et al., (2009) found positive relationship between

students' performance and student's demographic, active learning, students'

attendance and involvement in extracurricular activities in Malaysia. In Palestine,

Naser and Peel (1998) found that student perceptions of factors associated with class

size, the attributes of the lecturer, student effort and the complexity of the course are

associated with student performance in first level principles of accounting course. In

Saudi Arabia, Atieh (1997) found that the difficulty in exams and the complexity on
 4

information processing in teaching accounting principles play significant role in

explaining the low performance in principles of accounting. Atieh provided evidence

that the majority of the students believe that the obstacles associated with the course

refers to the lengthy material covered during the semester and the poor advices.

In Kuwait, Torki (1988) found that there were no differences between male and

female academic performance in neutral condition. However, Al-Otaibi (1996) found

that female students are better than male students in many academic subjects. Al-

Otaibi observed that the performance of females did not change by academic levels

while the performance of males did change in senior year than their peers in junior

year. Al-Khader (1996) found that there is a significant correlation between the high

school ratio and GPA. He also found that the GPA of the female students was higher

than the male students, and the GPA for science division students was significantly

higher than those in arts division.

As it can be seen from the above literature, these studies were done in other countries

outside Africa and have focused on students' performance in traditional universities.

Scholars in distance learning have also tried to determine the factors that impede

learning in distance education, looking at students‟ support services (Reuben, 2010),

challenges of teaching and learning in ODL (Muganda and Kabate, 2012); challenges

of mixed mode of distance learning delivery (Muganda, Mwanongwa, and

Kapalanaka, 2012); language as a problem in distance education (Msoka and Vuzo,

2012) and challenges that students face at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT)

(Bitegeko and Swai, 2012). All these studies focus on certain challenges in distance

education provisioning, but none has dwelled on how these challenges affect learners
 5

performance. A study by Bitegeko and Swai (2012) for example, established

challenges that OUT students were facing in the course of their learning. However,

they did not care to assess how these challenges affect the students‟ performance.

This study is set to fill this gap in the literature.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The main motive behind taking this study is a down fall of educational standard in

recent years in Tanzania and this is witnessed by poor performance in national

examinations for primary and Secondary schools respectively, since 2005 – (Source:

Haki Elimu Report, 2012). Fall in educational standard in Tanzania in one way or

another has contributed to low performance of students at the OUT due to poor

background of educational status in primary and secondary level respectively.

Scholars in distance learning have also learning in distance education looking at

students support services (Reuben, 2010), challenges of teaching and learning in

ODL (Muganda and Kabate, 2012), challenges of mixed mode of distance learning

delivery (Muganda, Mwanongwa, and Kapalanaka, 2012), language as a problem in

distance education (Msoka and Vuzo, 2012) and challenges that students face at the

OUT (Bitegeko and Swai, 2012).

All these studies focus an certain challenges in distance education provisioning, but

none has dwelled on how these challenges affect learners performance. This study is

set to fill this gap in the literature. If these factors affecting students‟ performance

will not be well addressed, educational standard in the country will still be poor and

will have the following negative impact. Firstly, the country will continue to be poor
 6

because education is the source of development in any country. Without education,

different natural resources of the country will not be fully extracted due to poor

proficiency hence fall of national economy. Secondly the youth will not be able to

combat with their environment due to lack of adequate education. Thirdly, this is a

group that will not only find it very difficult to secure employment but will also be

unemployable due to lack of basic numeracy and literacy skills. Lastly, the

consequences of these failures are immersed and far reaching as the youth will not be

able to compete with millennium challenges, that is global economy.

1.3 General Objective

The objective of this study is to assess factors affecting students‟ performance in

open and distance learning taking Kinondoni regional center of the OUT as a case.

1.4 Specific Objectives

The study focused on the following three research objectives.

(i) To assess the effectiveness of students‟ support service on students‟ academic

performance at OUT.

(ii) To determine the relationship between social presence and academic

performance of undergraduate students at OUT.

(iii) To determine the relationship between gender and academic performance of

undergraduate students at OUT.

1.5 Research Questions

(i) How effective are the students‟ support services on students‟ academic

performance at OUT?
 7

(ii) What is the relationship between social presence and academic performance

of undergraduate students at OUT?

(iii) Is there any relationship between gender and academic performance of

undergraduate student at OUT?

1.6 The Scope of the Study

The delimitation of this research was to provide a clear picture that portrays factors

affecting students‟ performance in open and distance learning in Tanzania.

Furthermore, the study shall also presents suggestions that shall be used to improve

students‟ performance in open and distance learning in Tanzania. The study was

carried out in Dar es Salaam (Kinondoni regional center of the OUT). The location

was selected due to presence of the headquarter and richness in terms of information

needed for this research as well as having good number of university staff and

students who are enrolled in open and distance learning who are the target of this

study.

1.7 Significance of the Study

One of the agenda of the government of Tanzania has been to improve the access and

quality of education at all levels. It is with focus that the government established and

sustainably improves the open university of Tanzania as the major institution that

offers open ODL services to various levels. The commitment of the government can

also be seen in various policy and strategic documents. However, the performance of

students who have been enrolled in open and distance learning are affected with a

number of factors which have not well researched and presented though it still affect
 8

students‟ performance. Taking Tanzania Kinondoni regional center as a case, this

study aims at portraying factors that affect students‟ performance in open and

distance learning and hence have the following significance:

(i) Provide necessary information to stakeholders of open and distance learning

including factors that drawback students‟ performance in open and distance

learning in Tanzania for planning

(ii) The study came up with proposed empirical measures that need to be taken to

improve students‟ performance in open and distance learning in Tanzania

1.8 Limitation of the Study

The major limitation of this research is that, its findings cannot be directly used to

generalize the situation in other institutions that offers open and distance learning

outside Tanzania. This is due to the variations in learning environment, policy issues,

learning culture and other factors that differ from the environment in which this

study is to be carried out.

Some of the institutions might have more strong or weak supportive environment

over the other. On the other hand, policy issues and learning culture might be more

or less supportive to open and distance learning. As the three factors (variations of

policies, learning environment and learning culture) are out of the scope of this

study, the application of the findings cannot be applied for other institutions with

different situations. Thus the findings can be used to generalize the situations only

for OUT and other similar institutions keeping other factors constant.
 9

1.9 Chapter Summary

This chapter discussed the background information to the study, defined the problem,

objectives of the study, significance of the study and the research questions that were

answered by this study.

 10

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The literature review covers definition of terms, the theoretical and empirical

literature of this study. The overview of the OUT, Review of the Open University

Act, Review of Tanzania Education Regulatory Frameworks, Review of the

Tanzania Education and Vocational Training Policy, Review of the Tanzania

Education and Vocational Training Laws, Review of the Tanzania Education

Strategic Plan and Educational Reforms in Tanzania are some of the issues that have

been examined. On the other hand, the empirical literature presents the overview of

various researches on the subject under study in various institutions. It is from the

Empirical Literature Review that the research gap was identified.

2.2 Definition of Terms

2.2.1 Open Learning

Open learning is an approach that provides learning in a flexible manner, organized

around the geographical, social and time constraints of the learner rather than the

institution (Bates, 1995). Open learning has been described as a goal or educational

policy, the provision of learning, in a flexible manner, built around the geographical,

social and time constraints of individual learners, rather than those of educational

institutions (Siddiqui, 2004).

2.2.2 Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

Unesco (2002) defines ODL a approaches that focus on opening access to education

and training provision, freeing learners from constraints of time and place and
 11

offering flexible learning opportunities to individual and groups of learners.

However, Unisa defines ODL as a multidimensional concept aimed at bridging the

time, geographical, economic, social, educational and communicative distance

between student and institution, student and academics, student and courseware and

student and peers. ODL focuses on removing barriers to access learning provision,

student centeredness, supporting students and constructing learning programmes

with the expectation that student can succeed.

The Commonwealth of learning (COL) (2000) maintains that there is no one

definition of ODL. Rather there are many approaches of defining the term. Most

definitions, however, pay attentions to the following characteristics: a way of

providing learning opportunities characterized by the separation of teacher and the

learner in time or place, or both time and place, and learning that is certified in some

way by an institution or agency. The use of variety of media is employed, including

print and electronic two-way communications that allow learners and tutors to

interact, the possibility of occasional face – to - face meeting and a separated

division of labour in the production and delivery of course. Moon, Leach and

Stevens (2005) define ODL as the open learning approach, which when combined

with distance education methodologies, is often referred to collectively as Open and

Distance Learning (ODL).

2.3 Theoretical Literature Review

The literature surrounding open and distance education consistently bring in self

esteem as important individual factor for success in open and distance education.

According to Rosenberg and Simmons (1975) self-esteem is an individual‟s overall

 12

attitude, either positive or negative towards himself or herself. Harmon-Jones et al.

(1997) define self-esteem as somebody‟s beliefs concerning how well they live up to

the value standards set by the society which they live, while according to Branden,

(2001) self-esteem refers to a perspective compromising an individual‟s value while

postulating his or her self-evaluation and self-description in a variety of fields.

Moreover, Baumeister et al. (2003) considered successful performance in a learning

task as an essential component to achieve a considerable rise in one‟s self-esteem.

Byrne (1984) and Marsch (1990) concluded that self-esteem is tightly linked with

academic performance while the results of the research of Lane et al. (2004) on the

relationship between self-esteem, self-effectiveness and academic performance

revealed significant correlations between self-esteem and academic performance. In

addition, self-esteem was considered by Peixoto and Almeida (2010) as a strong

outcome predictor regarding the academic performance. Moreover, self-esteem was

devised as a significant factor as it is tightly linked to psychological well-being

(Neff, 2011). Self- esteem is also related to academic drop out (Finn, 1989; Weinner,

2000). Griffiths, Sharkey and Furlong (2009) have considered self-esteem as a

fundamental factor which might affect student engagement. Self-esteem has been

associated with the satisfaction that learners get from the course, too. Individuals

with high levels of self-esteem have been considered to be more satisfied with the

course that they attended as well as with their personal life in general.

2.4 Self-esteem and Loneliness in Distance Learning

Self-esteem and loneliness motivate similar hypotheses related to the field of

distance education, which should be examined. Workman and Stenard (1996)

 13

underlined the important role of self-esteem in distance learning. They claimed that

rising students‟ levels of self-esteem is very important in distance learning courses

and they related this rise with reduction of the possibility of academic drop out.

Moreover, according to von Prummer (1990) learners, mainly female ones choose to

enroll in a distance learning course while Kurtz et al. (2009) reported that there is a

positive correlation between self-esteem and students‟ attitude toward distance

learning. It should be noted that Pullmann and Allik (2008) suggested that low self-

esteem can be triggered by loneliness and a signal of poor academic performance.

Dillon, Gunawardena and Parker (1992) reported that interpersonal communication

is a very important factor by students as it reduces the feeling of loneliness. Angelaki

and Mavroidis (2013) concluded that both tutor-student and student-student

communication play an important role in alleviating the intensity of negative

emotions such as loneliness and solitude experienced by HOU students. Moreover,

according to Tinto (1993) loneliness in distance learning is related to academic drop

out. He reported that when students experience loneliness and they do not feel part of

the learning community, it is highly likely that they will drop out. He also concluded

that the sense of belonging to a group makes them feel engaged toward the distance

learning provider. However, the study of Kurtz et al. (2009) suggested that there is

no correlation between loneliness and students‟ attitude towards e-learning.

2.5 Loneliness

Loneliness is another concept that keep coming up in the literature of open and

distance learning. In this context, loneliness to learners is theorized as an issue that

crops up due to physical and social distance is normal. According to Weiss (1973),
 14

there are two types of loneliness; a) social loneliness, that is defined as the lack of

social relationships connecting a learner with other learners in the learning

institution, and b) emotional loneliness, defined as lack of specific interpersonal

relationships. Furthermore social solitude is a tool for measuring human social

interaction which represents the presence or absence of interpersonal relationships,

the latter called loneliness.

The need of belonging is listed high in the rank in Maslow (1971) Hierarchy of

Needs. Tajfel and Turner (1986) claimed that being a part of a group within which

somebody shares their interests and goals will probably boost their self-esteem, a fact

that is considered to be significant for one‟s well-being according to Branden (1969).

Loneliness has been examined in the framework of education and learning. School

performance is inversely related to the feeling of loneliness and social dissatisfaction

at school (Valas, 1999). Loneliness was also found to be associated with social

interactions and self-esteem according to Cheng and Furnham (2002).

2.6 Social Presence and Academic Performance

Social presence has been considered as a fundamental element of raising self esteem

and lower loneliness in distance learning. Social presence has been defined by Short

et al. (1976) as “the degree of salience of the other person in the interaction and the

consequent salience of the interpersonal relationships”. In other words this can be

interpreted as the extent to which a person is perceived as “real” and able to mediate

communication that has, otherwise been created by distance (Richardson & Swan,

2003). More recently, Garrison et al. (2000)) defined social presence as “the ability

of participants in a community of inquiry to project their personal characteristics into

 15

the community thereby presenting themselves as real people”. Regarding the latter

definition, Rourke and Kanuka (2009) underlined that operationally, it is a devise to

ensure frequency of emotional stability, cohesiveness and open communicative

action, while Hratsinski (2009), So and Brush (2008) and Richardson and Swan,

(2003) highlighted the important effect of social presence on the learning process as

it enhances students‟ performance as well as satisfaction with the course and the

instructor. Activities boosting perception of social presence have also been found to

be positively related to learning and students‟ satisfaction with the course (Garrison

et al. 2000; Whiteman, 2002; Shin, 2003; Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007).

Gunawardena and Zittle (1997), having examined social presence as a predictor of

students‟ satisfaction in teleconference learning environments, concluded that social

presence is a critical predictor of students‟ satisfaction in online learning

environments. Gunawardena et al. (2001) reported that social presence facilitates the

development of confidence and self-revelation in an online learning environment,

while Garrison (2011) considers it as a substantial construct in a collaborative

constructive approach of learning. Finally, in relation to the interconnection of

technological and social parameters in distance learning, Bayne (2014) notes that

“casting the technological and the social as isolated from each other in the context of

digital (and post-digital) education merely robs the field of its complexity and

richness.

2.7 Support Service and Academic Performance at ODL

Support services to distance learners has been considered as a single most effective

strategy to remove isolation, raise self esteem and create instructor presence in the
 16

lives of the learners. Students support was described by Vygotsky (1978) as potential

for raising zone of proximal development, where a learner is supported to reach his

or her maximum learning potential.

Learner support assists learners to attain levels of understanding impossible for them

to achieve without assistance. Learner support provide learners with more structure

during the early stages of a new learning and gradually turn responsibility over to

them as they internalize and master the skills needed to engage in more complex

learning.

De Jager (2015) studied the impact of library service on students‟ academic

performance at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She used a report

generated from the library circulation system that indicated how many items from the

open shelves and from the reserve collection were borrowed by the identified

students during the academic year. Jager found that there was not any relationship

between books borrowing and academic performance.

From this study, it became obvious, for example, that odd students could obtain first

class passes (75% or more) without ever borrowing a single book throughout the

entire year. Some students on the other hand borrowed more than sixty books failed

in the final examinations. This implies that, student service through library

borrowing may not contribute much in academic performance. Thus, to perform,

there are other issues that can contribute to academic performance. However, this

study is useful in the sense that library and library use is among the most focused

students support services at the open and distance learning institutions.

 17

2.8 Social Economic Status and Academic Performance

In most of the studies done on students academic performance social economic status

normally is associated to it. Hansen and Mastekaasa (2006) for example argue that

families with high cultural are also those who are closest to the academic culture, and

thus, are more inclined to send and support their children in school. Supported

children have a more chance to succeed in studies than unsupported children (see for

example Eamon 2005; Jeynes, 2002). Earlier study by Graetz (1995) shows that

social economic background remains one of the major sources of educational

inequality and adds that one‟s educational success depends very strongly on the

social economic status of one‟s parents.

Considine and Zappala (2002) looked into the influence of social and economic

disadvantage in the academic performance of school students in Australia. They

found that families where the parents are advantaged socially, educationally and

economically foster a higher level of achievement in their children. They also found

that these parents provide higher levels of psychological support for their children

through environments that encourage the development of skills necessary for success

at school.

Morakinyo (2003) carried out a study to find the factors on high academic

performance in senior secondary schools in Kenya. He found that passing level of

academic achievement is attributable to teachers‟ use of verbal reinforcement

strategy, he also found that attitude of teachers towards their jobs was reflected in

their good attendance to lessons, early arrival at school and savory comments about

students‟ performance.
 18

Jencks and Barbara (1979) traced progress in school through two academic years and

found family factors and financial background have high effects on what children

learn in schools in Scotland. High income families met cost sharing required in

secondary schools, this enable the students to participate well in various academic

activities. As a result students from wealthier families continued to make intellectual

gains, whereas low socio-economic status students lost ground.

Cookson (2000) conducted a research on the family factors contributing to academic

performance in Uganda. He used qualitative approach so as to explain the matter. He

found that teachers worked as a team as well as the students attended the classes on

time. He further recommended that early fees payment and parents‟ involvement in

school sustained an acceptable performance to students.

Family income, according to Escarce (2003) has a profound influence on the

educational opportunities available to adolescents and on their chances of

educational success. Escarce (2003) adds that due to residential stratification and

segregation, low-income students usually attend schools with lower funding levels,

have reduced achievement motivation and much higher risk of educational failure.

When compared with their more affluent counterparts, low-income adolescents

receive lower grades, earn lower scores on standardized test and are much more

likely to drop out of school.

King & Bellow (2009) used parents‟ occupation as a proxy for income to examine

the relationship between income and achievement and found that children of farmers

had fewer years of schooling than children of parents with white-collar jobs. They
 19

also determined that the schooling levels of both parents had a positive and

statistically significant effect on the educational attainment of Peruvian children.

They argue that how much education a child‟s parents have is probably the most

important factor in determining the child‟s educational opportunities. They observe

that the higher the attainment for parents, then the greater their aspirations for

children.

2.9 Gender and Academic performance

Linver (2002) studied the influence of gender on academic achievement focusing on

the average math grade trajectories look like, from 7th to 12th grade, the different

predictors for young women and young men, for those in high versus low math

tracked classes. She found that overall, young women had slightly higher grades than

young men. For both young men and women math grades start out fairly high

(around a B+ or B), and then decline throughout high school, ending up at about a B-

or C+. She suggested that in order to encourage more women into math, science, and

information technology fields, interventions need to be designed to focus not on the

academic achievement but in how to make math- and science-related occupations

more interesting for young, high achieving women. She also suggested that this type

of intervention should start early in the academic careers.

Arulampalam et al., (2003) examined the probability that an individual medical

student will drop out of medical school during their first year of study in UK and

found that male students are about 8 percent more likely to drop out than female

students. Díaz (2003) observed that older students show the highest failure index and

women perform better than men in Spain.

 20

Cheesman et al., (2006) found that the performance of mature students is better than

the performance of younger students. They also found that students who receive for

financial assistance outperform others who do not receive financial assistance in the

Anglophone Caribbean region. Erdem et al., (2007) concluded that the probability of

getting a higher cumulative GPA for students who have graduated from science high

schools is higher than the students who graduate from the standard high schools in

Turkey. Psalidaset al., (2008) used semi-structured interviews to examine the

performance of students toward the Programme for International Students

Assessment (PISA) in Greece and found that the performance of students in the

PISA tend to be independent of the student‟s gender.

Suryadarma et al. (2004) found that student performance is strongly influenced by

the education level of parents in Indonesia. Hijaz and Naqvi (2006) found there is a

positive relationship between the level of mother education and students performance

in Pakistan. Wong and Lai (2006) observed that female student-teachers taught better

than male student-teachers and female student-teachers' instructional strategies were

more creative and well designed than male student-teachers in Hong Kong.

Abdullah (2005) used a sample of 126 male and 111 female students to examine the

main determinants of student performance in the Principles of Financial Management

course. He found that gender has a significant impact on performance in financial

management which indicates the difference in performance between male and female

students. He found the performance of the male student depends upon the accounting

courses while the female student depends upon economic courses. Alnaeem (2010)

added that internal environment plays significant role in the student's performance.
 21

Al-Twaijry (2010) observed that the load of weekly registered hours has no negative

impact on the student performance.

In Kuwait, Torki (1988) examined the gender on student's performance in Kuwait

and found that there were no differences between male and female in neutral

condition. Al-Otaibi (1996) investigated the impact of gender on student's

performance and found that female students are better than male students. Al-Otaibi

observed that the performance of females did not change by academic levels while

the performance of males did change in senior year than their peers in junior year.

Al-Khader (1996) found that there is a significant correlation between the high

school ratio and GPA. He also found that the GPA of the female students was higher

than the male students, and the GPA for science division students was significantly

higher than those in arts division.

Al-Rashed, (2001) used 183 students as a sample of accounting students' to examine

the factors associated with performance of the accounting majors graduated from

Kuwait University. He provided evidence that GPA earned by accounting majors at

the end of second year is the single most important variable associated with their

overall performance. Al-Rashed (2001) concluded that GPA and Grade, earned in the

second introductory accounting course in admitting students into accounting

program, to be more useful than the current reliance on secondary school scores as

the main admission criterion.

2.10 The Conceptual Framework

According to Rossenberg and Simmons (1975), self –esteem is an individual‟s

overall attitude either positive or negative, towards himself or herself. Harmon-

 22

Jones et al. (1997) define self-esteem as somebody‟s beliefs concerning how well

they live up to the standards set by the society which they live, while according to

Branden (2001) self –esteem refers to perspective compromising an individual‟s

value while postulating his or her self-evaluation and self-description in a variety of

fields. Moreover, Baumeister et al. (2003) considered successful performance in a

learning task as an essential components achieve a considerable rise in one‟s self-

esteem. Bryne (1984) and Marsch (1990) concluded that self-esteem is tightly linked

to academic performance while the results of research of Lane et al. (2004) revealed

the correlation between self-esteem and academic performance.

According to Peixoto and Almeida (2010) self-esteem is a strong outcome predictor

regarding the academic performance. Self-esteem was devised as significant factor as

it is tightly linked to psychological well-being (Neff, 2011). Griffiths, Sharkey and

Furlong (2009) have considered self-esteem as a fundamental factor which might

affect students‟ engagement. Self-esteem has been associated with the satisfaction

that learners get from the course, individuals with high level of self-esteem have

been considered to be more satisfied with the course that they attended as well as

their personal life in general.

Social Presence has been considered as fundamental element of distance learning and

has been defined by Short et al.(1976) as “the degree of salience of the other person

in the interaction and the consequent salience of interpersonal relationship”.

Richardson and Swan (2003) highlighted the important effect of social presence on

the learning process as it enhances students‟ performances as well as satisfaction

with the course and the instructor.

 23

Demographic differences such that gender, age and marital Status has been used to

determine academic performance. Smith and Naylor (1993) examined determinants

of degree of performance of students leaving UK universities and found that it is

influenced significantly by personal characteristics. They also found that

performance of female students is better than the performance of male students in

some subjects such as Biological Science and Humanities and worse in Mathematics

and Computing. They observed that both men and women, married individuals do

better than non-married students, and also they found that performance of mature

students is better than younger students.

On the basis of literature review and theoretical background, the following

conceptual framework is proposed to show self-esteem, social presence and

demographic differences are variables affecting academic performances in ODL

contexts.

Self-esteem Self-effectiveness
Psychological well-being
Academic engagement
Satisfaction
Positive attitude

Academic
Performanc
Social Social relationships e
Presence Interpersonal relationships
interpersonal
communication
sense of belonging

Demographic Gender and

Difference Age
Marital Status

Figure 2.1: Conceptual Frameworks

Source: Modified from Vakoufari et al. (2014)
 24

2.11 Conclusion and the Gap

As it can be seen from the literature review, these empirical studies have focused on

students' performance in traditional universities. Since there are educational and

cultural differences between traditional universities and open learning university,

Arab Open University- Kuwait, in our case, and since such differences may play a

role in shaping the factors that affect performance, it is important to examine those

relevant factors to Open University of Tanzania.

2.12 Chapter Summary

The literature above has shown that self-esteem, loneliness and social presence are

possible factors that affect students‟ performance in ODL. From the literature

reviewed it is evident that though various studies have been conducted on the factors

affecting students‟ performance in OD, it is important to examine those factors to

OUT.
 25

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

Research methodology is the way through which the research problem can be solved

(Kothari, 2005). This chapter therefore, provides the framework within which this

study on factors affecting students‟ performance in open distance learning was

carried out.

3.2 Research Design

Kothari (2005) defines research design as the conceptual structure within which the

research is conducted. Research design allows the researcher to draw conclusions

about relations about variables. Thus a research design can be viewed as initial

decisions, which involves the selection of different research approaches, procedures

and methods. This study adopted a descriptive survey design, which suite the

objectives, conceptual framework and research questions intended to be covered.

This design was selected in order to investigate the factors which affect the students‟

performance in ODL.

3.3 Study Area

This research was carried at the OUT. The OUT conducts its operations through 29

Regional centers, 8 Coodinating Centres and 69 Study centers that have spread all

over the country. Also OUT has two coordination centres located in Kenya.

However, the researcher has chosen to conduct this research at Kinondoni study
 26

center in Dar es Salaam, expecting that the findings may represents other regions too

with slightly difference. Also this study area has been selected due to a number of

factors which includes the possibility of accessing a good number of students, time

and budgetary constraints.

3.4 Population

The population in this study involves all academic staff and undergraduate students

at OUT Kinondoni center. OUT has a total number of 348 academic staff of whom

223 are males and 125 re females. Undergraduate students at OUT counts to 4724 of

which 771 are enrolled in faculty of education.

3.5 Sample Size

The sample population for this study was 110 respondents. According to Kothari

(1985), when field studies are undertaken in practical life, the consideration of time

and costs leads to the selection of few respondents and items to be included in the

sample.

3.6 Sampling Techniques

Purposive and random sampling techniques were used in this study. Academic Staff

were purposively selected according to the criteria that they are in faculty of

education and being involved in ODL. The simple random sampling (probability

sampling) technique was used to select the sample population among students. Using

available list of all students studying at the OUT Kinondoni center, a sample of 80

students mainly from faculty of education was drawn.

 27

3.7 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Table 3.1: Marital Status (Staffs& Students)

Status Staff Students Total Percentage (%)

Married 16 34 50 45.45
Single 6 39 45 40.91
Widowed 4 1 5 4.55
Divorced 4 6 10 9.10
Total 110 100

Source: Field data (2015)

Table 3.2: Gender (Staffs & Students)

Males Females Total

Staffs 20 10 30
Students 46 34 80
Total 66 44 110

Source: Field data (2015)

3.8 Data Collection Methods

The researcher collected and made use of both primary and secondary data. Jamal

(2007) state that, primary data is one which the researcher collects himself from the

field while secondary data is obtained from already published documents. For the

purpose of this research, both primary and secondary data sources were used in

collection of necessary data and information.

Primary data was collected through use of questionnaire with open ended questions

while secondary data was obtained from use of data that researched by the earlier

researchers from the relevant books and journals from the library and online research

databases.
 28

3.9 Data Collection Tools

3.9.1 Questionnaires

Questionnaire with open ended questions was designed to get the information that

was needed from the respondents. Two questionnaires, both containing 11 items was

designed to collect information from respondents, first was questionnaire for

academic staffs (Appendix 1) and the other was questionnaire for OUT students

(Appendix 2). Open ended questions enabled the researcher to get in depth

information.

3.9.2 Interviews

After examining the data obtained from the questionnaire, a series of semi-structured

interviews were arranged to obtain more information pertaining to those factors

which affect students‟ performance in open and distance learning. The researcher

randomly chose students for interview in order to clarify points raised from the

questionnaire.

3.10 Data Analysis and Presentation

The data was processed and analyzed in accordance with the purpose of use. The

process included data cleaning, editing, coding and the data analysis. Data cleaning

was done to ensure that, the data available are those which can be edited and used for

the aimed purposes. The process involved examining the collected raw data to detect

errors and omissions. This was done at the field so that, any missing data could still

retrieve from appropriate sources.

After the collected data had been edited, the next step was to assign numerals

numbers to each question and answers. This was done for the purpose of simplifying
 29

the work of capturing the data, creating some uniformity and hence facilitates the

analysis stage. The collected data were analyzed using tables, charts and graphs from

the primary data which was mainly quantitatively as well as explanatory of

qualitative information from both secondary and primary data.

3.11 Ethical Considerations

The researcher made sure that all ethical issues are taken care of all the time and at

all stages. The tools that were used to collect the data did not in any way put

identification of the respondent whether disclosing his or her name or put any sign

and hence confidentiality was assured. Before any interview with any respondent,

the respondents were given explanations on the purpose of the study and their

consent sought. The data collection procedures started after getting permission from

office of the dean, faculty of education at OUT.

3.12 Validity and Reliability of the Data Collection Tool

The validity tests performed by the developers of the initial questionnaires which is

used in this study, can guarantee the validity of the survey tools used for the present

study. Concerning the self-esteem scale, Heatherton and Polivy (1991) refer to

studies confirming the psychometric aspects of the scale as well as the high levels of

construct validity of this scale for measuring self-esteem. Russel (1996) paper

provides strong evidence regarding the validity of Loneliness Scale since it has been

proved to be strongly correlated with other scales measuring loneliness. Finally,

Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) also proved the validity of their questionnaire on the

perception of social presence.

 30

3.13 Chapter Summary

This chapter described the research methodology that was used in the study. The

study adopted descriptive research design, mainly focusing on obtaining on

information on factors that affect students‟ performance in open and distance

education at OUT. Data were collected using questionnaire with open ended

questions and informal interviews. One hundred and ten respondents including

academic staff and students were involved. Collected data were edited, coded and

analyzed using Microsoft excel to form tables, charts and graphs.

 31

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the findings on the factors affecting students‟ performance in

ODL presented according to the objectives developed in chapter 1: To assess the

effectiveness of students‟ support service on students‟ academic performance at

OUT; determine the relationship between social presence and academic performance

of undergraduate students at OUT; and determine the relationship between gender

and academic performance of undergraduate students at OUT. The first part presents

demographic characteristics of the research participants. Part two presents the data

and part three is the summary of key findings.

Table 4.1: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents both Academic Staff

and Students (110)
Demographics Males Females Total no. of Total
respondents percentage
No % No % %
Tutors 20 66.67 10 33.33 30 100
Students 46 57.5 34 42.5 80 100
Total 110

Source: Field Data (2015)

From the Table 4.1 show, 20 (66.67%) respondents were male academic staff while

10 (33.33%) respondents were female academic staff. On the side of the student

respondents, there were 46 (57.5%) of male student respondents and 34 (42.5%)

female student respondents. This is totaling to 80 student respondents, the above data
 32

clearly shows that more male than female who responded positively to the

questionnaires than female respondents. This is graphically represented below:

Gender

Figure 4.1: Graphical Representation on the Demographics

Source: Field Data (2015)

Table 4.2: Marital Status (Students & Academic Staffs)

Status No. of respondents Percentage (%)

Married 50 45.45

Single 45 40.91

Widowed 5 4.55

Divorced 10 9.10

Total 110 100

Source Field Data 2015

From the table above, married respondents dominated the list with 50 respondents,

followed by single respondents with 45, then divorced respondents with 10

respondents and finally widowed respondents with 5 respondents. The above results

are presented graphically below:

 33

Figure 4.2: Graphical Representation of Marital Status (Students & Academic

Staffs)

Married
Single
Widowed
Divorced

Source: Field Data (2015)

The above results explain that most of the students at OUT are married people,

implying that the majority are mature people and were kind enough to respond to

questions.

Table 4.3: Age Range

Age No. of Respondents (Students & Academic Staffs)
Less than 20 years 10
20-29 30
30- 39 40
More than 39 30
Total 110

Source: Field Data 2015

From the table above, the majority of the respondents are of 30- 39 years which is

represented by 40 respondents, followed by respondents over 39 in age and 20- 29

which is represented by 30 as well and lastly less than 20 years are represented by 10

respondents. The above data shows that the majority of the respondents are relatively

mature adults which include both academic staff and students who are of mature age

and are having families. This is graphically represented below:

 34

Less than 20 years

20-29
30- 39
More than 39

Figure 4.3: Graphical Representation of Respondents (Academic Staffs &

Students) Age Range
Source: Field Data (2015)

4.2 Effectiveness of Students’ Support Service on Students’ Academic

Performance

The first objective was to determine the effectiveness of students‟ support services

on students‟ academic performance. However, before asking this question, it was

deem important to determine the availability of students‟ support services.

Questionnaire was used for this purpose. The question was: Are the following

students support services available at OUT? Questionnaire was used to solicit

information from 110 participants who responded to this objective. The following are

the responses:

Table 4.4: Responses on Effectiveness of Students Support Services at the Open

University of Tanzania
Items No. of Respondents Percentage
(Academic Staff& Students) (%)
Appropriate Mode of course 25 22.73
delivery
Good study materials 25 22.73
Conducive area of the study 25 22.73
Online reading 35 31.82
Total 110 100
Source Field Data 2015
 35

4.3 The Findings

From the table, all the materials provided were available at OUT, although the

responses varied. 35(31.82%) of the respondents recommended on the access on

online reading materials, 25(22.73%) felt that the materials were of good quality,

25(22.73%) were of Conducive area of the study while 25(22.73) suggested that

Appropriate Mode of course delivery is needed. This implies that, although the

materials were available, they were of low quality.

The second question was set to determine the relationship between support service

and academic performance of undergraduate students at OUT. Total of 80

participants responded to this question (Table 4.5). The question was: Which support

service do you consider to be available and support students‟ performance at the

OUT, the following are the responses:

Table 4.5: Support Services that Raise Students’ Performance

Items No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

(Students)
Use of latest ICT 30 37.5
Use of reference books 20 25
Use of online teaching 20 25
Close guidance through face-to-face 10 12.5
Total 80 100
Source: Field Data 2015

From the Table 4.5 shows 30 Students (37.5%) are of view that improvement and

innovation in the ICT are among the top innovations that the university has fought to

improve in the campus and this has led to students accessing reading material that are

being sent by their facilitators on net.

 36

20 students (25%) are as well on the view that availability of reference books given

by their lecturers are of great importance to their academics as well as online

teaching method where by most of the students access most of the reading materials

as well as modules as soft copies all these help them perform higher. Students also

agree that close supervision during face-to-face program has contributed to the

higher performance of the students at the campus. These findings are in line with

Vygotsky‟s (1978) idea that certain tools are potential for raising zone of proximal

development, where a learner is supported to reach his or her maximum learning

potentials.

As 20 students (25 %) of the learners indicated that the latest ICT were present and

they considered them to have the potential to raise their academic performance. As

Vygotsky suggested, learner support provide learners with more structure during the

early stages of a new learning and gradually turn responsibility over to them as they

internalize and master the skills needed to engage in more complex learning. 10

Students (12.5%) argued that, there are available face-to-face students‟ support

services at the OUT, and the services available are able to raise the academic

performance of students.

4.4 Social Presence and Academic Performance

The second objective was set to determine the relationship between the social

presence and academic performance. The question was: Is there a relationship

between lack of presence of the instructor and students low performance at OUT.

Informal Interview with some academic staff and students were held in order to

clarify the points raised from the questionnaire. The following are their responses:
 37

Student 1: Yes, lack of instructors lead to low students‟ performance

because students feel alone and lose interest in learning ( ).

Student 2: Some students need instructors to instruct them what to do, what

to read and where to find the materials. All these are needed for

one to perform.

Academic staff 1: Students who do not attend orientation tend to score lower than

those who attend because they lack direction on what to read.

Academic Staff 2: Social presence is very important because instructors have a

chance to explain and clarify to students difficult topics. Even if

the students can access these materials, without the instructor to

explain to them difficulty areas, students are left to figure out for

themselves, and in most cases, they fail.

Majority of the respondents do agree that social presence has a strong impact on the

students‟ performance. In the discussions students had a view that participation in

group discussions, team work, face to face interactions help them clarify issues and

in answering examination questions. From these responses from the students, it

seems that the presence of the instructor is crucial for their performance. In these

responses we are seeing concepts such as „alone,‟ „lose interest.‟ Such responses are

in line with Weiss (1973), views that distance learners are encounter with two types

of loneliness: social loneliness, and emotional loneliness. As the responses from the

students, distance learners at OUT face loneliness due to lack of social presence of

their instructors.
 38

However, there were few students who had a different view. These consider social

presence as distracter to academic performance. This pessimistic view can be

deduced from this statement:

Student: Social presence may influence performance either better or worse

depending on the kind of the social group that one engages in. Some

students join bad discussion groups that may result into doing other things

than studying and thus slow learning, and affect their performance ( ).

All in all, although there were few who considered social presence detrimental to

learning and performance, the majority considered social presence as important for

boosting students‟ interest, clarification on difficulty topics and encouragement.

4.5 Gender and Academic Performance

The third objective was to determine the relationship between gender and academic

performance in OUT. This objective was set to confirm or disconfirm the literature in

ODL that gender is an issue. The question was: Is there any relationship between

gender and academic performance of undergraduate students at OUT? The following

were the responses:

Student 1: I think there is, because male tend to perform higher than females. But I

think this is also because males have all the time to study if they want.

But females have too many things they must attend to

Student 2: I think males perform better because they concentrate, females do not.

Academic staff 1: Not necessarily. Nobody has come up with a clear difference

between males and females academic performance. There are

 39

fields that females outperform males, such as language and

social studies. Some scholars have attributed this with what each

sex is engaged more with. But there is no clear cut that because

you are a male, you will perform better.

Academic Staff 2: indeed male tend to perform higher because they believe in

themselves and have high self-esteem.

It clearly shows that the participants had a feeling that males outperform the females.

This, as one of the instructors suggested, has not been established. Also his study

Abdullah (2005) found that gender has a significant impact only in some fields. For

example, in the field of financial management, females outperformed males, while in

accounting, males outperformed females. Also it was found that internal environment

as important determinant of gender difference in academic performance.

Conclusively it can be suggested that gender is not a positive determinant of

academic performance.

4.6 Chapter Summary

On the first objective which stated; establish the relationship between support service

and academic performance of undergraduate students at OUT. The study

summarized that support service is very important as far as academic performance is

concerned. It showed that students who have supportive facilitators tend to perform

higher and therefore this has a positive relationship on the students‟ performance.

Also on social presence was considered as important for helping the students learn

and raise their academic performance. On gender as determining factor for academic
 40

performance, many students felt that male students did better than females, but the

instructors felt that this was not true because there were subjects that female students

have consistently outperform the males.

 41

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter summarizes the major findings obtained from the study on the factors

affecting Students‟ performance in ODL. The conclusion and recommendations are

drawn from the findings.

5.2 Summary

This study aimed to view the factors affecting students‟ performance in open and

distance learning. The study used three variables: support services; social presence

and gender to determine academic performance at OUT. The first chapter presents

the background for this study, showing the significance and limitations of this study.

Chapter two presented related literature focusing on theoretical and empirical

literature. Theoretical literature covered the theories of self-esteem and loneliness as

they pertain to distance education. Empirical literature was reviewed around the three

objectives developed in chapter one, which was: effectiveness of students support

service; social presence and gender and their relationship to academic performance.

Chapter three is confined to research methodology; both purposive and simple

random sampling was employed to get 110 respondents including both academic

staff and undergraduate students. Open-ended questionnaire and informal interview

was used to collect data on factors that affect students‟ performance in ODL. Chapter

four presents the findings of this research. The key findings were that, students‟
 42

support services were available at the OUT, and the services available were effective

to raise the academic performance of students. Further, the study found that social

presence was important for boosting students‟ interest, because instructors could

make clarification on difficulty topics and this would encourage the students to learn

and raise their academic performance.

However, there were few who considered social presence as a nuicance but the

majority would appreciate the presence of instructors in their learning. The last

finding was that, although the majority of students felt that males outperformed

students, the views from the instructors were that gender was not a positive

determinant of academic performance. Generally, the findings of this study support

the literature.

In the light of objectives and findings of this study it can be concluded that male

students tend to perform higher than female students this is because male students

have a lot of time to revise and read on their own than ladies. It is concluded that

most female students have a lot of responsibilities at home and that make have no

time to revise or read on their own. It is concluded that men have a higher self-

esteem than female and thus this makes them isolate freely to lecturers for

consultation and thus perform higher than female students who have low self esteem.

The major contributing factors for the failure of students in the academics

programme offered through distance learning were the lack of guidance,

unfamiliarity of the study system, and difficulty in changing over from conventional

classroom teaching to self-learning. Further, students may be guided by irrelevant

 43

factors in selecting a most fitting study programme for their capabilities and

backgrounds. But they should have continuous untiring commitment and self-

motivation to come to the same status as those who have good academic background.

As far as faculty is concerned, course materials must be delivered on time and

students‟ momentum for learning requires a higher level of support, especially during

the transition to distance education. Lack of student support and poor presentation of

course content contributed to student failure. Faculty need to focus attention on

redesigning the total course delivery system paying the attention to the profile of

students. In such an attempt the faculty should devise an efficient means to identify

and support students who need special assistance.

5.2 Overcoming Major Barriers to Offering Quality Distance Learning Courses

Perhaps one of the best ways to evaluate good distance learning courses is to

consider how the institutions have overcome the major barriers to offering them.

Simonson, Schlosser, & Orellana (2011) list the ten most substantial barriers

institutions have to overcome to offer quality distance learning programs. The

barriers are presented in their rank order.

(i) Increased time commitment. Distance learning courses may very well take

longer for instructors to manage than traditional classroom courses. Quality

courses are facilitated by trained instructors who know how to maintain the

quality of the course and not be overwhelmed by new requirements and loads

they may not be used to.

(ii) Lack of funds to implement distance learning programs. Budgetary constraints

do not go away with distance learning. Unless the program can take advantage
 44

of the economies of scale and earn a return on investment that is greater than or

equal to the development and delivery cost, distance learning programs can

easily lose money.

(iii) Organizational resistance to change. Institutions with highly independent

departmental territory may find it difficult to work collaboratively with other

departments or institutional service centers to bring quality education online.

Good distance learning courses result from a team effort between different

parties across the institution.

(iv) Lack of vision for distance education in the organization. Quality distance

learning programs result from an overall institutional vision. Quality standards

are also passed down from the leadership of the institution to the different

departments providing distance learning.

(v) Faculty compensation. Given some distance learning courses can take longer to

facilitate than the classroom equivalent, attracting qualified instructors can be a

challenge. To address this issue, many large institutions are leveraging larger

numbers of adjunct instructors to help meet demands. Adjunct instructors

usually cost less than maintaining full-time faculty and used just-in-time to

facilitate periods of varying course demand.

(vi) Difficulty keeping up with technological changes. Good distance learning

courses use relevant and current technology. Upgrades, new features, improved

capability are rolled out regularly within high quality distance learning tools.

Organizational culture should promote an ongoing and unceasing commitment

to preparing faculty and students to continually take the next steps forward.
 45

(vii) Lack of infrastructure or support. Distance learning courses are as only as good

as the infrastructure and staff that support them. For example, one institution

the author consulted for provides several cloud based web applications to assist

instructors in facilitating online courses. However, no onsite training or support

is available for the faculty. As a result, the applications are only used by a

minority of instructors who have taken the time to train themselves. The

administrators who procured the applications suggested the programs were

intuitive enough for faculty to learn without training. Interestingly, leadership

at the institution later found that the primary issue behind the low number of

instructors adopting the tools was not the instructors' ability to learn the

software applications. The primary issue causing lack of adoption was the

instructors not knowing that the programs were available and how they served

to achieve the course objectives.

5.3 Recommendations

Basing on the above findings the following recommendations are made:

(i) The Open University of Tanzania need to strengthen its students‟ support

services by acquiring the most current ICT to enhance students‟ learning;

(ii) The Open University of Tanzania need to strengthen its orientation and face to

face interactions to help social presence of the instructors and students.

(iii) Students at the Open University of Tanzania need to inculcate a sense of

independent so that they can learn independent of their instructors.

(iv) Further studies should be conducted with a wider coverage as this study was

only confined to OUT Kinondoni center.

 46

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 55

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for Selected Open University of Tanzania Academic

Staff

Introduction

This research is conducted only to meet academic purpose as part of completion of

Master Degree Program. The researcher is a master‟s degree student at the Open

University of Tanzania (OUT) who is obliged to prepare a thesis in order to finalize

his studies. The research aims to identify factors affecting student‟s performance in

open and distance learning in Tanzania, Taking the Open University of Tanzania

(OUT) as a case. The research shall also come-up with proposals for further actions

with the aim of improving open and distance learning in Tanzania.

The findings of this study shall be useful to both, the researcher and other

stakeholders that are working or interested in open and distance learning including

the government. Thus your participation is highly appreciated;

Kindly respond to all questions with accuracy. All information provided shall be

treated and used only for the stated objectives.

Part A: Demographic Characteristics

Please circle the appropriate response(s)

1. Gender

1 = Male

2 = Female
 56

2. Marital status

1 = Married

2 = Single

3 = Widowed

4 = Divorced

3. Age range

1 = Less than 20 years

2 = 20-29 years

3 = 30-39 years

4 = More than 39 years

4. Level of Education

1 = doctorate level

2 = masters level

3 = degree level

4 = Other (Please specify)

5. Number of years working at the Open University of Tanzania

1 = Less than 1 years

2 = between 2-5 years

3 = More than 5 years

 57

Part B: Open ended questions

1. What do you consider are the factors that support students‟ performance in open

and distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania?

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

2. As academic staff, what do you consider are the things that make open and

distance learning much easier?

…………………………………………………………………………………......

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

3. As an academic staff, are there any innovations that are in place to support open

and distance learning to your students?

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

4. What factors that drawback students‟ performance at the Open University of

Tanzania?

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................
 58

What are the challenges that you have ever encountered when supporting

students of the Open University of Tanzania?

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

5. How did you manage to address those challenges that you encountered?

..................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................……

6. What measures need to be taken to improving students‟ performance in open and

distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania?

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

7. What can you say on the coverage and effectiveness of the policy and strategies

for developing and strengthening the open and distance learning in Tanzania?

……………………………………..………………………………………………

…………..…………………………………………………………………………

………………..……………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….……

…………………………………………………………………………………….
 59

8. What other general comments do you have regarding the open and distance

learning in Tanzania?

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

9. What do you think are the impacts of social presence on students‟ performance at

Open University of Tanzania?

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

10. What is the relationship between self esteem and students‟ performance at Open

University of Tanzania?

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

Thanks for your cooperation

 60

Appendix 2: Questionnaires to Open University Students

Introduction

This research is conducted only to meet academic purpose as part of completion of

Master Degree Program. The researcher is a master‟s degree student at the Open

University of Tanzania (OUT) who is obliged to prepare a thesis in order to finalize

his studies. The research aims to identify factors affecting student‟s performance in

open and distance learning in Tanzania, Taking the Open University of Tanzania

(OUT) as a case. The research shall also come-up with proposals for further actions

with the aim of improving open and distance learning in Tanzania.

The findings of this study shall be useful to both, the researcher and other

stakeholders that are working or interested in open and distance learning including

the government. Thus your participation is highly appreciated; Kindly respond to all

questions with accuracy. All information provided shall be treated and used only for

the stated objectives.

Part A: Demographic Characteristics

Please circle the appropriate response(s)

1. Gender

1 = Male

2 = Female

2. Age range

1 = Less than 20 years

2 = 20-29 years
 61

3 = 30-39 years

4 = More than 39 years

3. Level of Education enrolled

1 = Master Degree

2 = Bachelor Degree

3 = Diploma

4 = Foundation

5 = Others (Please specify)

4. Marital status

1 = Married

2 = Single

3 = Widowed

4 = Divorced

Part B: Open ended questions

1. What do you consider are the factors that support students‟ performance in

open and distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania?

...............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

2. As a student, what do you consider are the things that support or make open

and distance learning much easy?

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................
 62

3. As a student, are there any innovations that you have designed to support open

and distance learning or things that make your study much easy?

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

4. What factors that drawback or challenge students‟ performance in open and

distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania?

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

..................................……………………………………………………………

5. What are the challenges that you have ever encountered during your study at

the Open University of Tanzania?

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................

6. How did you manage to address those challenges that you have encountered?

...............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

………………………..…………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………..
 63

7. What measures those need to be taken to improve students‟ performance in

open and distance learning at the Open University of Tanzania?

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

8. What can you say on the coverage and effectiveness of the policy and

strategies for developing and strengthening the open and distance learning in

Tanzania?

………………………………………..…………………………………………

……………………………………………….…………………………………

……………………………………….…………………………………………

9. What other general comments do you have regarding the open and distance

learning in Tanzania?

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

10. What do you think are the impacts of social presence on students‟ performance

at Open University of Tanzania?

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………….…………
 64

11. What is the relationship between self esteem and students‟ performance at

Open University of Tanzania?

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

Thanks for your cooperation

 65

Appendix 3: Sample Estimation Table

Table for Determining Sample Size From a Given Population

N S N S N S N S N S
10 10 100 80 280 162 800 260 2800 338
15 14 110 86 290 165 850 265 3000 341
20 19 120 92 300 169 900 269 3500 246
25 24 130 97 320 175 950 274 4000 351
30 28 140 103 340 181 1000 278 4500 351
35 32 150 108 360 186 1100 285 5000 357
40 36 160 113 380 181 1200 291 6000 361
45 40 180 118 400 196 1300 297 7000 364
50 44 190 123 420 201 1400 302 8000 367
55 48 200 127 440 205 1500 306 9000 368
60 52 210 132 460 210 1600 310 10000 373
65 56 220 136 480 214 1700 313 15000 375
70 59 230 140 500 217 1800 317 20000 377
75 63 240 144 550 225 1900 320 30000 379
80 66 250 148 600 234 2000 322 40000 380
85 70 260 152 650 242 2200 327 50000 381
90 73 270 155 700 248 2400 331 75000 382
95 76 270 159 750 256 2600 335 100000 384

Note: “N” is population size

“S” is sample size.

Krejcie, Robert V., Morgan, Daryle W., “Determining Sample Size for Research

Activities”, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1970